Pleasure vs. identity: More eating simulation language in meat posts than plant-based posts on social media #foodtalk

Davis, Tess; Papies, Esther K.

doi:10.1016/j.appet.2022.106024

Cited by 12 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 62 publications

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“…We found the same pattern of language in food posts on the social media platform Instagram (48) . In two observational studies, we coded the words used as hashtags for posts (N 852 and N 3104) about meat-or plant-based foods.…”

Section: Plant-based Foods Are Presented To Others In Less Appealing ...supporting

confidence: 63%

How (not) to talk about plant-based foods: using language to support the transition to sustainable diets

Papies,

Davis,

Farrar

et al. 2023

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

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Reducing meat consumption is essential to curb further climate change and limit the catastrophic environmental degradation resulting from the current global food system. However, consumers in industrialised countries are hesitant to reduce their meat intake, often because they find plant-based foods less appealing. Despite the climate emergency, eating meat is still perceived as the norm, and recommended in most national dietary guidelines. To support the transition to more sustainable diets by providing insights for increasing the appeal of plant-based foods to mainstream consumers, this review presents recent research findings on how people think and communicate about meat-based and plant-based foods. The key findings we review include: (1) while vegans think about plant-based foods in terms of enjoyable eating experiences, omnivores think about plant-based foods in terms of health, vegan identity and other abstract information that does not motivate consumption in the moment. (2) Packages of ready-meals and social media posts on Instagram present plant-based foods with fewer references to enjoyable eating experiences than meat-based foods. (3) Presenting plant-based foods with language that references enjoyable eating experiences increases their appeal, especially for habitual meat eaters. This language includes words about sensory features of the food (e.g., crunchy, creamy), eating context (e.g. pub; with family) and immediate positive consequences of eating (e.g. comforting, delicious). In contrast, the term ‘vegan’ is strongly associated with negative stereotypes. Hence, rather than referring to being vegan, meat-free or healthy, the language used for plant-based foods should refer to sensory appeal, attractive eating situations and enjoyment.

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Section: Plant-based Foods Are Presented To Others In Less Appealing ...supporting

confidence: 63%

How (not) to talk about plant-based foods: using language to support the transition to sustainable diets

Papies,

Davis,

Farrar

et al. 2023

Proc. Nutr. Soc.

Self Cite

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“…Similarly, language that highlights the absence of meat-vegetarian, vegan, or meat-free-tends to inhibit meat eaters from making a switch (Vennard et al 2018). Interestingly, in a recent study analyzing Instagram posts about food, researchers found that plantrich options were commonly described using far fewer indulgent language hashtags than meat posts, suggesting the plant-rich food is still considered inherently less appealing than meat by many, as reflected in how it is talked about online (Davis and Papies 2022). This finding has also been replicated by a study exploring descriptions of 240 ready meals from four UK supermarkets, where plant-based options were more likely to be described referencing ingredients, categories, or health, rather than taste (Papies et al 2020).…”

Section: Why This Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Food Service Playbook for Promoting Sustainable Food Choices

Pollicino,

Blondin,

Attwood

2024

WRIPUB

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“…Research shows that words and language can influence many priority behaviors in the field of public health: from vaccination to smoking cessation [10,11]. Notably, however, plant-rich, healthy dishes are often described in restaurants or social media using less appealing language than their meat-rich counterparts [12,13]. This may lead them to be perceived as less flavorful or indulgent, thereby deterring consumers from selecting these options [12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Notably, however, plant-rich, healthy dishes are often described in restaurants or social media using less appealing language than their meat-rich counterparts [12,13]. This may lead them to be perceived as less flavorful or indulgent, thereby deterring consumers from selecting these options [12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Appealing dish names to nudge diners to more sustainable food choices: a quasi-experimental study

Gavrieli

Attwood²,

Wise³

et al. 2022

BMC Public Health

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Background Promoting plant-rich diets, i.e., diets with significantly reduced amounts of animal products, including vegan and vegetarian, is a promising strategy to help address the dual environmental and health crises that we currently face. Appealing dish names could boost interest in plant-rich dishes by attracting diners’ attention to them. In this study, a systematic approach to naming plant-rich dishes with appealing descriptors was tested with a quasi-experimental design in four workplace, self-service, buffet-style cafeterias in Chicago, Sydney, São Paulo and Singapore. Methods Three different plant-rich dishes were tested at each site. Appealing names were generated systematically through a workshop and emphasized the dish ingredients, origin, flavor and/or the eating experience. Each test dish appeared once in a four-week menu cycle where menu options changed on a daily basis. The cycle was then repeated four times (six times in Chicago) with the total number of showings for each dish to be four (six in Chicago). The dish names alternated between basic and appealing across dish repetitions. For each dish, the food taken per plate was estimated by weighing the overall food taken and dividing it by the plate count in the cafeteria. Data was analysed as percentage change from baseline (i.e., the first showing of each dish that always had a basic name) with linear mixed effects analysis using the lme4 package in R. Results Overall, appealing dish names significantly increased the amount of food taken per plate by 43.9% relative to baseline compared to basic dish names (54.5% vs. 10.6% increase for appealing vs. basic names, respectively, p = .002). This increase corresponded to a 7% increase in actual grams of food taken per plate. Secondary analysis showed that the effect was site-specific to English-speaking countries only and that there was no substitution effect between plant-rich and meat dishes. Conclusions The study tested an approach to creating appealing dish names in a systematic way and indicates that, in some settings, appealing dish titles are a relatively easy, scalable, cost-effective strategy that the food services sector can adopt to shift food choices towards more plant-rich, sustainable ones.

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Pleasure vs. identity: More eating simulation language in meat posts than plant-based posts on social media #foodtalk

Cited by 12 publications

References 62 publications

How (not) to talk about plant-based foods: using language to support the transition to sustainable diets

How (not) to talk about plant-based foods: using language to support the transition to sustainable diets

The Food Service Playbook for Promoting Sustainable Food Choices

Appealing dish names to nudge diners to more sustainable food choices: a quasi-experimental study

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